Acura RL

Acura may have been the first luxury-driven Japanese automotive brand, but it still hasn’t managed to capture the market the way rivals Lexus and Infiniti have. While Toyota and Nissan’s luxury divisions developed (and eventually succeeded in building) true Japanese alternatives to Mercedes and BMW, Acuras have always been thought of as nothing more than slightly fancier Hondas. That the most popular Acura in existence is the Integra -- which is pretty much a Civic -- only amplifies this perception.

However, Acura has spent the past few years working overtime to establish itself as an authentic luxury brand. Take, for example, Acura’s flagship RL: Though currently the oldest sedan in Acura’s lineup, the RL still packs enough new features and technology to keep it fresh. And what’s more, it proves that Acura can take a clean-sheet design and build a proper luxury car.

The RL’s 3.7-liter, 300-horsepower V6 -- mated to a 5-speed auto -- looks adequate, if a bit underwhelming for its market. However, driving the car shows this powertrain to be really quite good. And while we’re sure Acura has at some time hinted at the RL’s performance potential in its publicity materials, any and all mentions of “performance” should be ignored. The RL is best defined as a luxury cruiser.

Pressing the "go" pedal results in a lazy yet quick shove of acceleration. The car feels more alert should the gear selector find its way into sport mode, but the transmission has obviously been tuned more for smoothness than speed. Manual gear changes -- accomplished using steering-wheel-mounted paddles -- are silky smooth as well. If the dash display didn’t tell you what gear you were in, you’d be hard-pressed to tell that the flappy paddles even change the gears at all.

At times, the RL floats like a mid-‘90s Cadillac, but it has just enough firmness to prove it won’t scrape its door handles in a turn. And speaking of turns; there is a noticeable pause between the time you turn the steering wheel and the time the car actually gets around to changing direction. It sounds bad, but Acura has found a way to make this actually feel “right” while cruising around town. We wouldn’t use this car to tackle a challenging mountain road, but it’s perfect for our daily commute.

Being the oldest sedan in the Acura stable, the RL doesn’t look as fresh or as new as its TSX and TL siblings. However, it has undergone a minor face-lift, notably receiving the new Acura shield and new head and taillights. The overall car is attractive, if a bit nondescript. The RL looks like an average sedan; it won’t turn heads, but it won’t make people shield their eyes either.

The best part of the RL is its interior. It’s proof that Acura can build a luxury car that’s just as good as -- if not a bit better than -- its rivals. The design is clean and fluid, with nice dash plastics, black wood trim and excellent fit and finish. The heated and cooled front seats are very comfortable; there’s more than enough room for four full-sized adults; all materials feel excellent to the touch… We could go on and on. The AcuraLink system has a few too many buttons, making it feel convoluted at times, but it’s solid in terms of features and functionality. It may not have devastatingly good looks or track-worthy performance, but the RL is one of the nicer sedans we’ve ever been in.